Kristin Wagner | composition workshops: 2/17-2/20
Kristin Wagner is a dance performer, choreographer, educator, and administrator based in Boston, MA. Since 2012, she has had the honor of performing at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Boston Center for the Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Jordan Hall, among others. Kristin has been dancing with KAIROS Dance Theater since 2012, and currently serves as Principal Dancer and Rehearsal Director for the company. Kristin also performs with Brian Feigenbaum and Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion, and creates duets regularly with Tony Guglietti in addition to creating independent works. Her work has been presented choreography across New England, including at the Salem Arts Festival, Boston University, The Dance Complex, Tufts University, Harvard University, AS220, the Boston Center for the Arts Mills Gallery, and the Maine International Film Festival. Kristin is passionate about supportive, rigorous dance education, and currently teaches youth and adults at New England Conservatory, Koltun Ballet Boston, Free Form Dance Academy and Wilmington Dance Academy. She is the Creative Director of Lady BOS Productions, which supports the development and sustainability of local, independent dance and performance art.
Kristin seeks to challenge students while supporting a healthy and natural sense of curiosity by crafting dynamic, athletic, and highly physical movement phrases and patterns. With the firm belief that laughter should exist in every class, she creates a learning environment that values compassion over competition, cultivating a space where students feel free enough to ask questions and take risks, and empowered enough to make choices and unleash potential.
Kristin seeks to challenge students while supporting a healthy and natural sense of curiosity by crafting dynamic, athletic, and highly physical movement phrases and patterns. With the firm belief that laughter should exist in every class, she creates a learning environment that values compassion over competition, cultivating a space where students feel free enough to ask questions and take risks, and empowered enough to make choices and unleash potential.
audrey maclean | composition workshops: 2/18 & 2/20
Audrey MacLean is a Boston-based dance/performance artist. Since graduating from Connecticut College, Audrey has had the pleasure of performing throughout New York and New England in work by Jimena Bermejo, Peter DiMuro, griffindance, Heidi Henderson, Annie Kloppenberg, Betsy Miller, power|PLAY, Ruckus Dance, shovegentlydance, and is a founding member of Grant Jacoby & Dancers. Audrey's own work has been presented throughout New England and New York as part of Green Street Studio's New Works program, The Dance Complex's aMaSSiT program, and was featured on CPTV's Spotlight on the Arts. In 2016 Audrey was invited to show work at ART’s Oberon theater as part of DanceNOW Boston. In the spring of 2016 she co-produced and curated an evening of short dance/performance work titled "Dance Shorts" which brought together eight Boston-area female choreographers. Aside from her own choreographic pursuits, Audrey has served in administrative roles for The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, and as curator and series manager of Moving Target Boston. Audrey has also been a guest teacher in both technique and composition classes at: The College of the Holy Cross, Berklee College of Music, Moving Target Portland, Moving Target Boston, and Rising Tide Charter School.
i.j. chan | contemporary technique: 2/17
I.J. Chan is a dance artist and educator born, raised and now based in Boston. She joined KAIROS Dance Theater in 2015, two months after graduating from James Madison University with a BA in Dance and Journalism. She is also currently dancing with McKersin Previlus/Lakaï Dance Theater, Jennifer Lin, Jean Appolon Expressions and Chavi Bansal. IJ has performed in venues and stages in the Boston and New York City, including the Boston Center for the Arts, MIT, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and New York Live Arts.
I.J. is invested in diversifying her dance training and artistry by working with different choreographers through workshops and masterclasses. She is also interested in intersecting the Asian-American narrative into her work. In addition to performing, she is passionate about bringing quality dance instruction to low-income and minority youth populations within the city. She also works as a freelance graphic designer with a special focus on working with other dance artists in the Boston community.
I.J. is interested in bold, uninhibited athleticism coupled with the telling of powerful and honest narratives. In her journey as a dancer, she has been blessed to train intensively under many different mentors who have pushed and pulled out an infinite span of rhythms and vocabulary from her body. As both an educator and a choreographer, I.J. is dedicated to passing on all of this knowledge to students and audience members alike.
I.J. is invested in diversifying her dance training and artistry by working with different choreographers through workshops and masterclasses. She is also interested in intersecting the Asian-American narrative into her work. In addition to performing, she is passionate about bringing quality dance instruction to low-income and minority youth populations within the city. She also works as a freelance graphic designer with a special focus on working with other dance artists in the Boston community.
I.J. is interested in bold, uninhibited athleticism coupled with the telling of powerful and honest narratives. In her journey as a dancer, she has been blessed to train intensively under many different mentors who have pushed and pulled out an infinite span of rhythms and vocabulary from her body. As both an educator and a choreographer, I.J. is dedicated to passing on all of this knowledge to students and audience members alike.
BETSY miller | contemporary technique: 2/18
A native of Ohio, Betsy Miller is a dance artist, educator, and facilitator currently based in Salem, Massachusetts. Her choreography has been presented in New York, Ohio, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Iowa and Texas, and she has received support from New England Foundation for the Arts, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Next Steps for Dance (Boston Foundation and Aliad Fund), The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Somerville Arts Council, The City of Salem, Gloucester Cultural Council, The City of Providence Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, and The Ohio State University.
Betsy has performed with Lostwax Multimedia Dance and Fusionworks, and has recently appeared in works by Kathleen Hermesdorf, Heidi Henderson, Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, and Rachel Boggia, and in collaborations with Matthew Cumbie and Shawn Hove. The spring, she is dancing in work by Audrey MacLean.
Betsy was a 2017 Bates Dance Festival Emerging Artist, a 2016 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellow, and currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Salem State University. She has been on faculty at Providence College, Connecticut College, Dean College, and AS220, and regularly teaches and performs as a guest artist throughout New England and beyond. Betsy holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance from Connecticut College.
Through Betsy's teaching, she cultivates understanding of and enthusiasm for the art and science of dance through a learning-centered approach. Her main objective is to empower students to embrace physical and intellectual challenge. She do this by developing specific movement skills and encouraging critical thinking and creative application. Betsy is energized by an honest passion for the form itself and its applications for holistic personal growth.
Betsy has performed with Lostwax Multimedia Dance and Fusionworks, and has recently appeared in works by Kathleen Hermesdorf, Heidi Henderson, Rose Pasquarello Beauchamp, and Rachel Boggia, and in collaborations with Matthew Cumbie and Shawn Hove. The spring, she is dancing in work by Audrey MacLean.
Betsy was a 2017 Bates Dance Festival Emerging Artist, a 2016 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellow, and currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Dance at Salem State University. She has been on faculty at Providence College, Connecticut College, Dean College, and AS220, and regularly teaches and performs as a guest artist throughout New England and beyond. Betsy holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance from Connecticut College.
Through Betsy's teaching, she cultivates understanding of and enthusiasm for the art and science of dance through a learning-centered approach. Her main objective is to empower students to embrace physical and intellectual challenge. She do this by developing specific movement skills and encouraging critical thinking and creative application. Betsy is energized by an honest passion for the form itself and its applications for holistic personal growth.
shaina schwartz | contemporary technique: 2/19
Shaina Schwartz has been performing and teaching throughout New England for over 10 years. An attendee of the Boston Youth Moves program at Jeannette Neill Dance Studio, she went on to study music and theater at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. A former resident artist at the award-winning children's theater, The Peacock Players, and dance captain/co-choreographer with the Boston Tap Company, Shaina is now the primary tap instructor at Boston University and multiple prestigious Greater Boston area studios. She is the Artistic Director of the New England based educational dance company, Touche Taps, which focuses on comprehensive music, percussive dance and composition training, working with over 200 dancers, ages 7 to 65+, every week!
Shaina's class will be focused on foot work, traveling and grand movement, using elements of Horton and Dunham for structure and musicality.
Shaina's class will be focused on foot work, traveling and grand movement, using elements of Horton and Dunham for structure and musicality.
angelina benitez | contemporary technique: 2/20
Angelina (Angie) Benitez graduated Salem State University with a B.A in Modern/Contemporary Dance. She teaches children of all ages and adults locally at places including Ipswich Moving Company, St. John’s Preparatory School, and Enchanted Dance Academy. She is also on teaching staff for Jo Troll’s Queer Dance Workshop series in Boston. She believes in providing the class with an inclusive and accepting environment and approaching movement in the classroom with playfulness and curiosity. Though she’s partial to teaching modern and improvisation, Angie also teaches ballet, tap, and hip hop. Angie has presented her collaborations throughout the Greater Boston area at events including Salem Arts Festival, Dancing Queerly, Mind the Gap, Tiny & Short: A Drop in the Bucket, and OnStage360° with her partner, Rebecca Lang.
Angie's class will explore the fundamentals of modern technique including alignment, use of breath, oppositional energy, spacing, directional changes, and fall and recovery. We’ll also use prompts, choreography, and games to play with our preconceived ideas of artistry and creativity.
Angie's class will explore the fundamentals of modern technique including alignment, use of breath, oppositional energy, spacing, directional changes, and fall and recovery. We’ll also use prompts, choreography, and games to play with our preconceived ideas of artistry and creativity.
Top Cover Photo: students of Free Form Dance Academy, by Olivia Moon Photography/@halfasianlens
Instructor Photographs courtesy of the artists; Credits top to bottom: Timothy Avery Photography, James Lastowski, Olivia Moon Photography/@halfasianlens, Jonathan Hsu, Joseph Lee, Jonathan Hsu
Instructor Photographs courtesy of the artists; Credits top to bottom: Timothy Avery Photography, James Lastowski, Olivia Moon Photography/@halfasianlens, Jonathan Hsu, Joseph Lee, Jonathan Hsu
